Why did Nie Zheng gouge out his own eyes and disfigure his face before his death?

Nie Zheng, a knight-errant during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, was a native of Shenjing, Zhi County, South Korea. He was known as the "Four Great Assassins of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period" together with Yaoli, Zhuanzhu, and Jing Ke. He loved fighting injustices since he was a child. He accidentally killed a person, so he took his sister and old mother and fled to Qi State for refuge, and became a butcher.

Not long after, Yan Zhongzi of Puyang served Han Aihou as his minister. Because he had grudges with Han Xiang Xia Lei, he was afraid that Xia Lei would kill him, so he fled while looking for someone who could avenge Xia Lei on his behalf.

In the state of Qi, Yan Zhongzi asked everywhere where there were knights and strangers. After someone knew his purpose, he said to him: "Sir, there is a man named Nie Zheng in the deep well of Zhe in our country. He is a very brave knight. Because he is avoiding the pursuit of his enemies, he sneaks around secretly. Among the butchers. If you want to find a knight, you can visit Nie Zheng privately." So Yan Zhongzi decided to go to Nie Zheng. After asking around, Yan Zhongzi found out where Nie Zheng lived, so he went to visit him with food and wine. After drinking for three rounds, Yan Zhongzi took out a hundred yi of gold and came forward to honor Nie Zheng's mother.

As a chivalrous man who has been in the world for many years, Nie Zheng is very clear about the ways of the world. However, although Nie Zheng's family lived in poverty, the Nie family would not accept this free money, and Nie Zheng sternly refused.

Yan Zhongzi insisted on giving it away, but Nie Zheng said: "Although my family is poor and I live in a foreign country, I am engaged in the dog-butchering industry, and I can get some delicious food sooner or later to support my mother. I really don't dare to do it anymore." Accept your gift."

Yan Zhongzi took Nie Zheng aside and said quietly to him: "I have been away from other countries for many years because of my revenge. I heard that you are very rich. I am loyal, so I will give you this hundred yi of gold to pay for your meal. I hope to make friends with you."

Nie Zheng replied: "The reason why I lowered my ambition is that I am a butcher in the market just because I want to serve my old mother. As long as she is alive, I will not risk my life." Yan Zhongzi repeatedly refused to accept the offer, so he had to leave. A few years later, Nie Zheng's mother passed away. She was buried and the mourning period expired.

Nie Zheng thought: "I am just a commoner, and Yan Zhongzi is a minister of the princes, but he has traveled thousands of miles. He has humiliated his status to make friends with me. My friendship with him is really too shallow." , No great merit can offset his kindness to me. Yan Zhongzi also offered a hundred gold to his mother. Even if he didn't accept it, it was enough to show that he valued me. Now that my mother has left, I should repay him. "

So Nie Zheng came to Puyang, found Yan Zhongzi and said, "I didn't agree to you before because my mother was still alive. Now that my mother is gone, who is your enemy?"

Yan Zhongzi replied: "My enemy is Xia Lei, the prime minister of Korea. He is the uncle of the king of Korea. The clan is prosperous and there are many people. His mansion is guarded by soldiers. I have sent people to assassinate him, but they all failed. Failed. Thank you for not disliking me and agreeing to help. I will send someone to assist you." However, his proposal was rejected by Nie Zheng.

Because Xia Lei is the prime minister and a relative of the monarch, he has guards around him to protect him. If too many people go and the target is too big, he will be easily exposed.

In addition, accidents will inevitably happen when there are too many people. Once the news is leaked, Yan Zhongzi's situation will be very dangerous. Therefore, Nie Zheng decided to go to South Korea alone to assassinate Xia Lei.

Therefore, Yan Sui followed Nie Zheng's arrangement and canceled the plan to equip chariots, horses and entourage. In this way, Nie Zheng went to South Korea alone.

After Nie Zheng arrived in South Korea, South Korea happened to hold a grand meeting in Dongmeng. Han Aihou, the prime minister, and ministers were all there, and there were many guards around them. Nie Zheng rushed in, climbed up the steps, and assassinated Xia Lei.

For a moment, the guards were stunned. After they reacted, they swarmed up and surrounded Nie Zheng. After Nie Zheng killed dozens of people, knowing that he would be caught, he used a sword to peel off his face, goug out his eyes, and pull out his belly and intestines, and died a heroic death.

The Koreans had no choice but to put his body in the market publicly so that people could identify him. After not knowing Nie Zheng's identity for a long time, the Koreans issued a notice offering a reward of thousands of gold to anyone who could identify the person who killed the prime minister, but no one knew who he was.

The reason why Nie Zheng wanted to destroy his appearance before he died was because of a woman - his sister Nie Xin. After all, assassinating Xia Lei was the crime of annihilating the family, so he was worried that after his death, his sister would be implicated by him, and she would be disfigured so that no one would recognize her.

When Nie Zheng's sister heard about this, she said: "From the description, this assassin must be my brother. My brother is very capable, righteous, and very honest. I can't begrudge my life because of it." , just to bury my brother's reputation. To bury Nie Zheng's reputation, this is not my brother's original intention."

With the intention of promoting his brother's bravery, Nie Xin came to South Korea and saw that although he was beyond recognition. The corpse of her younger brother was too horrible to look at, but she immediately recognized it as her biological brother.

Immediately, she hugged Nie Zheng's body and continued to cry bitterly: "This is my brother Nie Zheng in the deep well of Zhiyi!"

In the end, Nie Zheng died because of excessive sadness. Died beside Nie Zheng.